Founder: Nancy Laurie
Interim Artistic Director: Alexandra Damiani
Executive Director: Greg Mudd
Production Manager: Andrew Cappelli
Company Manager: Jen De Santo
Director of Development: Marietta Ulacia
Manager of External Affairs: Ally Duffey
Production Stage Manager: Renata Braga de Almeida
Audio Video Supervisor: Dave Rogge
Technical Director: Kurtis Rutherford
Lighting Supervisor: Jim French
Stage Manager: Barbara Domue
Rehearsal Assistant/Ballet: Matthew Powell
Wardrobe Supervisor: Lydia Frantz
Costume Coordinator: Kelli Haase
Booking: Margaret Selby, CAMI Spectrum
Company Members: Billy Bell, Jon Bond, Nickemil Concepcion, Vânia Doutel Vaz, Jason Kittelberger, Joseph Kudra, Navarra Novy-Williams, Guillaume Queau, Matthew Rich, Ida Saki, Joaquim de Santana, Acacia Schachte, Rachelle Scott, Ebony Williams, Jin Young Won, Madeline Wong.
Cedar Lake
Since its inaugural 2003-2004 season, New York based Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet has been recognized for its exceptionally talented dancers and an emphasis on cultivating collaborations with the world’s most sought after choreographers. Cedar Lake has amassed one of the most diverse repertoires in dance – which includes works by such dance makers as Alexander Ekman, Crystal Pite, Hofesh Shechter, Jo Strømgren, Andonis Foniadakis, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Ohad Naharin and Jiří Kylián.
Through their daring, athletic movement and integration of ballet into contemporary and popular forms, the dancers of Cedar Lake take audiences on a choreographic journey that explores the infinite possibilities of movement and multimedia. Upcoming works for 2013-14 include Rain Dogs by Johan Inger and a new work by Israeli choreographer Emanuel Gat.
Cedar Lake is a contemporary ballet company dedicated to the continued development of dance by providing choreographers with a comprehensive environment for creation as well as curating work for presentation to a worldwide audience.
Alexandra Damiani
Interim Artistic Director
A native of France, Ms Damiani studied ballet at the Geneva Dance Center with David Allen and Claudine Kamoun before leaving Paris, where she trained with Attilio Labis. After winning the International Competition of Marseilles, Damiani was invited to dance with the stars of the Paris Opéra Ballet in Budapest and was awarded a scholarship to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, prompting her to move to New York.
Since 2005, after a 15-year dance career as a soloist with Complexions, Donald Byrd/The Group and Les Ballets Jazz of Montréal, Ms Damiani has been the Ballet Master of Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. Ms Damiani is honored to have worked with artists and innovators both in her work with Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet as well as independently, such as Donald Byrd, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Alexander Ekman, Andonis Foniadakis, Jacopo Godani, Ohad Naharin, Crystal Pite, Rodrigo Pederneiras, Benoit-Swan Pouffer, Victor Quijada, Dwight Rhoden, Jo Strømgren and Didy Veldman, among others. Ms Damiani is frequently invited to conduct master classes in the US and around the world with such dance institutions as The Juilliard School, Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, and Ballet Junior de Genève. Also, since 2008 she has served on the advisory board of the New York Theatre Ballet.
Ms Damiani is now a 22nd generation Taoist Dragon Gate lineage holder. She is an avid student and teacher in the ancient healing practice of Qigong.
Choreographers for the tour
Jiří Kylián (born in Prague in 1947)
Began his dance career at Stuttgarter Ballet and made his debut as a guest choreographer for Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) in 1973. His successful first dance for NDT, “Viewers,” was followed by a series of 50 works created for NDT.
In 1978 Kylián made his international breakthrough with “Sinfonietta,” set to music by his friend Leoš Janáček and created specifically for the Spoleto Festival in the United States. In that same year Jiří Kylián was appointed artistic director of NDT, a post that he held for 25 years and during which he created many of his most renowned works, including “Dream Dances” (1997), “De Kinderspelen” (1999), “Piccolo Mondo” (1999), “Symfonie in D” (2002), “Sechs Tänze” (2004), “Stamping Ground” (2006), “Evening Songs” (2006), “Un Ballo (2009) and “Indigo Rose” (2011).
Kylián has received various awards, including the Edinburgh Festival Critics Award (1996, 1997) and the Joost van den Vondel Award (1997). In 1995 he was made an Officer of the Order of Orange Nassau. In June 2008, during the 6th International Festival of Contemporary Dance at the Venice Biennale, he received the prestigious Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. To honor him, he received the ‘Kylián Fund for Innovative Cooperation’ at his Nederlands Dans Theater farewell in 2009. In 2011 he created “Anonymous,” a dance and video installation for the opening of the Cadance Festival at Korzo Theater, The Hague. The Czech Ministry of Culture has recognized Jiří Kylián with the Lifetime Achievement Award for dance and theatre.
Crystal Pite
Canadian choreographer and performer Crystal Pite has created works for Nederlands Dans Theater I (Associate Choreographer, 2008-2011), Cullberg Ballet, Ballett Frankfurt, The National Ballet of Canada, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal (Resident Choreographer, 2001-2004), Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Ballet British Columbia, Alberta Ballet, Ballet Jorgen, and several independent dance artists, most recently Louise Lecavalier.
Crystal Pite is a former company member of Ballet British Columbia and Ballett Frankfurt. In 2002, she formed Kidd Pivot, and continues to create and perform in her own work. Her work and her company have been recognized with numerous awards and commissions. Kidd Pivot tours extensively around the world with productions that include “The Tempest Replica” (2011), “The You Show” (2010), “Dark Matters” (2009), “Lost Action” (2006), and “Double Story” (2004), created with Richard Siegal. Kidd Pivot was the resident company at Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, with the support of Kulturfonds Frankfurt Rhein-Main, in Frankfurt, Germany, from 2010 to 2012.
Jo Strømgren, born in 1970 in Norway
Was educated in classical ballet and spent some years as a dancer before an injury led him to pursue a multi-disciplinary creative career. As the artistic director of Jo Strømgren Kompani, a theatre company specializing in nonsensical languages, he has surprised audiences and critics worldwide with his peculiar style. The company has performed its mix of gibberish, live music, film, and puppet theatre in 45 countries so far and has won numerous prizes.
As a freelance choreographer, he is frequently engaged by ballet companies such as Wiener Staatsopernballet, the Royal Danish Ballet, Ballett Nürnberg, Gothenburg Ballet, the Norwegian National Ballet and Ballet de l’Opéra du Rhin. He is also frequently commissioned to do contemporary dance pieces for companies like Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Danish Dance Theatre, Carte Blanche Dance Company, Cloud Gate Ensemble, ITDansa, abcdancecompany, Helsinki Dance Company, Iceland Dance Company, Bern Ballet, Bielefeld Tanztheater, and many others.
As a theatre director he specializes in the plays of Henrik Ibsen and is predominantly commissioned in the Nordic region, such as the Norwegian National Theatre, the Royal Danish Theatre, Reykjavik City Theatre, the National Theatre of Bergen, and others.
As a playwright he has had some 10 plays produced at different state theatres in Norway. He directed his first feature film in 2003, “Destination Moscow,” which played in cinemas in Norway and in several festivals abroad.
